In the News

Her credit line's kosher: Jewish-Filipino entrepreneur goes from meshuggeneh to microloan maven

Her credit line's kosher
Jewish-Filipino entrepreneur goes from meshuggeneh to microloan maven

By Farnoosh Torabi - Special to amNewYork

Eretz Deli
692 Columbus Ave. (between 93rd and 94th streets)
212-665-0953

In 1999, Gemma Datuin lived in her native Philippines, attended church on Sundays with her husband, and on the weekdays ran her own business selling home-decorative items like wooden picture frames and scented candles.

Fast forward six years and Datuin is living in Astoria, Queens. She is single, goes by the name Yaela and now prays in a Jewish temple.

The 41-year-old came to the United States newly divorced, searching for "meaning to life." And, she adds, "I was meshuggeneh," using the Yiddish word for crazy. "I just didn't think of my past or the norm."

Datuin has held on to one facet of her past life, her entrepreneurial spirit. For two years she has run Eretz Kosher Specialty Store on Columbus Avenue, a business she describes as a marriage between her lifelong passion for food and her new religion.

She takes pride in her menu items for cleverly blending Jewish and Asian traditions. Upper West Side neighbors especially enjoy her Philippine Beef Stew and General Y's Chicken, her popular version of the spicy General Tso's.

She calls her conversion to Judaism a work of God but says taking over the kosher deli was more like a leap of faith.

Aside from convincing customers she is, in fact, Eretz's Jewish owner and not a back-room worker, Datuin says her highest hurdle was getting a solid return on investment - a familiar challenge for many new business owners.

With less that $20 to her name, Datuin borrowed seed money from friends and family to buy the store. Since then he has worked 16-hour days to keep the deli's net income from hitting the flat line.

But with grocery stores famous for yielding low profit margins, keeping longer hours isn't always the trick to more sales. Datuin realized increasing her volume of products would offer a better turnaround. After all, just like her restaurant-owning mother taught her, "the more you sell, the more you earn."

Those wise words bore fruit thanks to a $5,000 loan from ACCION New York, a non-profit microlender. A bank would not have helped her, she says, because of her tiny credit history.

"The biggest challenge our clients face when applying for credit from traditional sources is their credit report," says ACCION New York's Mia Feldman. "We look past the credit report and help people learn how to build their credit."

And thanks to her timely repayment of the microloan, Datuin recently qualified for an even bigger line of credit through Citibank. With it, she plans to venture across Manhattan. "I hope to open a second store on the East Side," she said, "God willing."

BUSINESS BORROWING

It's not always easy convincing a traditional bank to give you a loan, and borrowing from family and friends can be tricky. Here are a few microfinance lenders worth checking into.

ACCION International is the country's biggest microlender. The average loan is about $9,000 but can go up to as much as $50,000. To learn more, call 212-387-0494 or visit www.ACCIONnewyork.org.

Count Me In is the nation's first online microlender and offers female entrepreneurs funding to help grow their business. In three years, the site has given more than 600 loans ranging from $500 to $10,000 dollars.

One caveat: "Applicants need to already have a business," Count Me In's co-founder Nell Merlino said.

Business Outreach Center Network offers microfinancing with a focus on small business, women, minority and immigrant entrepreneurs. Loans range between $500 and $25,000.

For more info call (718)625-1296 or go to http://www.bocnet.org/boccapitalcorp.

For info on more loans available to small business owners in the city, visit www.banking.state.ny.us/sba/nyclist.htm.

Reprinted with permission from amNewYork, October 24, 2005